Two Iranian officials tell The New York Times the drone strike was intended to warn that Tehran could inflict far greater damage on global shipping and energy supplies if the conflict escalatesynet|Iran has not officially claimed responsibility for the explosion at Egypt’s Damietta port, but two Iranian officials told The New York Times that it was caused by a drone. According to the officials, the attack was intended to signal that if escalation occurs, Tehran could cause even more severe disruption to global shipping and energy supplies.The officials, who spoke anonymously, did not say whether Iran carried out the attack directly or whether it was launched by one of its proxies in the Middle East. The explosion occurred at a liquefied natural gas facility and caused two gas-storage tankers to catch fire.Footage from Egypt’s Damietta port after the drone attack (Video: Reuters)Reuters reported Wednesday that two gas-storage vessels were set ablaze in the attack. Maritime security firm Ambrey said one of them was U.S.-owned. According to Reuters, citing three trade industry sources, the drone struck a tanker named Energos Winter. The vessel caught fire, and the flames spread to a second tanker, GasLog Salem.Ambrey said the crews were evacuated and the fire was brought under control.Damietta port, located in the northern Nile Delta, had been named by Iranian television just three days earlier as a possible target for retaliation against Ukrainian interests following Kyiv’s unusual attack on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea the previous weekend.Iranian television displayed a map marking various potential targets across the Middle East and beyond under the headline: ‘What could be the targets of Iran’s revenge against Ukraine?’Damietta port was among the locations marked. The accompanying text described its liquefied natural gas facility as having an annual production capacity of 5.2 million tons and serving as a gateway for gas exports to Europe.Iranian media had also threatened to retaliate for the Ukrainian attack by striking targets connected to oil and gas shipments to Europe.The attack came shortly after an attempt to prevent escalation between Kyiv and Tehran. The countries’ foreign ministers spoke Tuesday, after which Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was ‘not seeking escalation’ but was demanding compensation from Ukraine.